Seeing Red
by Memet
Summary: Spike succeeds in raping Buffy at the end of 'Seeing Red', who is sent into shock from the encounter. Fragile, the following events unless the dark side of Buffy can anyone save her from herself? dark themes, FB
1. Chapter 1

Response to the challenge by James from the faithfulchickies yahoo group – it's all his idea, I'm just borrowing it for a bit

Title: Seeing Red

Season: AU version of 'Seeing Red', I think Season 6, not sure

Pairings: Buffy/Faith, eventually

Summary: Spike succeeds in raping Buffy, who is sent into shock from the encounter. Then something happens to push her over the edge and now she's on the warpath and she doesn't care who gets in her – human or demon – and willing to kill. Can Faith help her fellow Slayer from making the same mistakes she did, or is it too late for Buffy? IMPORTANT: THIS IS RATED M FOR A REASON, ADULT THEMES

Disclaimer: The girls aren't mine, Angel characters aren't mine either --- heck, even the idea for this story isn't mine.

A/N: It's been a very long time since I've seen the episode 'Seeing Red', so if I get certain details wrong forgive me. I also have no idea what's going on with Angel at this time, but as far as I'm concerned Cordelia and alive and un-evil and has her visions (and I'm ignoring Connor if he existed now)

Seeing Red

Chapter 1

Dawn was laughing slightly to herself as she walked up the sidewalk to her house. She had just spent the night at Janice's house and as much as she enjoyed her friend's company, she still missed her sister – not that she would _ever_ tell Buffy that!

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled as she entered the house, and frowned when she didn't get a reply. Buffy was usually home around now. Entering the kitchen, she looked around but it didn't look like anyone had been in there all day. A small note on the fridge from Willow said that she and Tara had gone to the Magic Shop.

"Buffy?" Dawn called again – and a chill went up her spine. Not sure why she was feeling so anxious, she prowled around the house. She gasped as she saw the bathroom completely trashed, and saw blood on the floor. Taking deep breathes to calm herself, she ran out the house into the backyard and was shocked to see her sister sitting in the middle of the yard.

Not answering to Dawn's questions, Buffy sat with her knees to her chest, staring out at nothing. Her clothes were ripped and a bite at her throat was still bleeding. With a shaking hand, the teenager touched her sister's shoulder gently, and was shocked when Buffy flinched at the contact.

"Buffy, what happened?" Dawn asked gently, kneeling beside her sister who continued to look straight ahead.

"Nothing, Dawnie, go back inside."

"Buffy, you're injured – that's not nothing! Who did this to you?" Dawn asked, getting angry that her sister wouldn't tell her something as important as this.

Buffy was quiet for a moment, and then whispered, "Spike."

"But…but, Spike can't hurt anyone!" Dawn protested, still not understanding what was going on. A tear ran down Buffy's face, followed by another, but she didn't begin to sob nor did she wipe the tears away. They continued their lonely trail down the Slayer's face, not growing any worse but neither stopping.

Dawn threw her arms around Buffy and held on tight as the girl continued to cry silently. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, and until the tears stopped. Dawn carefully grabbed her sister's hand and drew her to her feet.

"Come on, let's go inside," she said gently, and slowly the Slayer nodded. The two had begun to make their way inside when they a shout behind them. They turned to see Warren standing in the backyard, a maniacal grin on his face. Without saying another word, he raised his arm and Dawn gasped as she saw the gun.

Acting on instinct, she shoved her sister to the ground and that movement place her in the path of the oncoming bullets. Pain shot through her chest and she gasped, but it came out strangled as she already began to choke on her own blood. Mistaking the blood from her earlier wound and the Slayer's still figure, Warren smiled triumphantly ran off thinking he had killed the Slayer.

Buffy looked up at her sister in incomprehension. But as Dawn began to fall Buffy shook herself out of her reverie and caught her as best she could. The front of Dawn's shirt was completely covered in blood, and she tried to talk as she coughed up even more blood.

"Shh, Dawnie, don't try to talk. Everything will be alright."

Dawn looked up at the sister she loved and admired so much, and smiled.

"I finally got to save you," she said softly, happily, and breathed out one last time.

"Dawn?" Buffy asked weakly, but knowing that her little sister wouldn't answer her. Carefully, she lifted the young girl in her arms and took her to Buffy's room. She laid her down, and grabbed Mr. Gordo and placed him carefully in Dawn's folded hands. If it weren't for the blood, it looked as if Dawn was only sleeping.

Looking down at her dead sister – the one she had _died_ to save – and the Slayer felt anger rise within.

No.

It went beyond anger…beyond hatred…beyond rage…it went beyond anything Buffy had ever experienced before. It was the antithesis of everything she had felt in Heaven – and it was all directed at one person.

"Warren," Buffy whispered.

((((((0))))))

Willow was reading a book on spells when she felt a chill go through her soul. Looking over at Tara, she saw the girl's face go pale and realized she had felt it as well. Something was very wrong.

Quickly, Willow reached for her cell phone and tried to reach Buffy. When that didn't work, she tried Buffy's cell phone. She let it ring twenty times before she hanged up and quickly stood up.

"Buffy's not answering."

The two witches quickly made their way back to the Summers home, and were shocked to see the ambulance parked out from. They rushed inside in time to see a body bag being brought down. Willow rushed up to one of the paramedics.

"I live here, what happened, who…?"

Seeing the anguish in the girl's eyes, the paramedic nodded to his partner who unzipped the bag. Willow gasped as she saw Dawn's face.

"Oh my god, Dawn. What happened?"

"We received a phone call that there had been a shooting victim at this address. When we arrived, we found the girl in her bedroom."

"W-who m-made the ph-phone call," Tara asked, standing beside her girlfriend.

"It was made anonymously. We'll need someone to come later and identify the body," the paramedic said casually, and helped his partner wheel out the body. Willow and Tara stared in shock, but then remembered Buffy. The two rushed upstairs into Buffy's room but saw no sign of the Slayer.

The bed was soaked in blood, and Tara tenderly grabbed Mr. Gordo, who now had several bloodstains. Looking around, Willow noticed ripped and bloody clothes on the floor. Frowning, Willow reached down and realized that they were Buffy's.

"T-try her c-cell phone again," Tara suggested and Willow reached for her phone. She smiled in relief when she heard Buffy answer.

"Buffy, where are you?"

"Oh, I'm going hunting," Buffy replied casually – but there was an edge and coldness to her voice that made Willow nervous.

"Oh! Um…that's nice, who are you hunting?" Willow asked as calmly as she could.

"Warren and his two buddies in crime."

"Why?"

"'Cause he killed Dawn," Buffy said matter-of-factly. Fear rushed through Willow, and she realized that Dawn's death might have broken her friend.

"Buffy, what are you going to do?" she asked nervously, wondering just how far gone the Slayer was.

"Not sure yet. I might skin him alive – that sounds like fun. But he's a wimp, so might die too early. I'll have to ask Anya, I'm sure she'll have a lot of good ideas."

"So you're heading to the Magic Shop?" Willow asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. Buffy answered in the affirmative and hung up. Frantically, Willow called the Magic Shop.

"This is the Magic Shop, how may we help you spend your money today?" Anya answered cheerfully.

"Anya, this is Willow. I need you to stall Buffy when she gets there."

"Willow, what are you talking about?"

"Just do it!" Willow shouted and hanged up the phone. Tara was watching her girlfriend anxiously, having only heard half the conversation but enough to know that something bad was happening.

"Willow, what's wrong?"

"It's Buffy."

((((((0))))))

Cordelia walked into the office where Wesley and Angel were working through different prophecies and was about to ask them what they wanted for lunch when she gasped and nearly fell to the floor from the force of her vision. Quickly, the two men were by the girl's side.

"Cordelia, what did you see?"

Cordelia just kept shaking her head repeating 'shit' over and over again. After a minute, Cordelia finally sank to the floor in exhaustion. She reached into her pocket and grabbed some pills and quickly swallowed a couple.

"That's the longest I've ever seen you have a premonition for," Wesley said, exchanging a worried look with Angel.

"With good reason," Cordelia groaned, from both the content and aftermath of the vision. "We're in serious trouble."

"What did you see?" Angel asked.

"Buffy is about to make Faith's psychotic break seem like child's play. We need to get Faith out of jail, now."

Cordelia got up off the floor and walked out of the office. The former Watcher and vampire chased after her.

"Cordy, what exactly did you see?" Angel asked anxiously. The brunette kept her back turned to Angel.

"Buffy, killing…anything and everything. She'll be a worse killer than Angelus," Cordelia said, finally turning to look at Angel, "and she's already so far gone that I don't know there's still a chance to save her."

Angel began to protest but Cordelia raised a hand to silence him.

"But if there is a chance, it lies with Faith. I don't know how or why – that's all I got from the vision."

"And if Faith fails?" Wesley asked quietly.

"I doubt we'll live to regret it."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm using the television version of Buffy meeting Merrick, rather than that of the movie.

Also, somewhat shocked at the amount of reviews I got for this, so yeah...cool, thanks

Seeing Red

Chapter 2

The day started like any other – of course, in prison everyday is like that rest. That's part of the reason prison is so painful. But there was something that was sending Faith on edge. She prowled the courtyard, trying to get rid of her nervous energy. Her entire soul was screaming at her to do something, but the dark Slayer had no idea what she was supposed to be doing.

Frustrated, she tried to do the Tai Chi that Angel loaned her a few books on; she found it helped when she was itching to slay but couldn't. But it wasn't helping today, and after a few moments she abandoned the effort. Noticing the odd looks she was receiving from the other inmates, Faith made her way back to her cell and flung herself on the bed.

Seconds afterwards, as if drugged, Faith found herself being pulled into sleep.

_At first, Faith thought it was one of her memories as she felt the need for revenge and anger reverberate through her soul. But slowly she began to recognize the voice, even though she couldn't believe it. Faith couldn't see or feel anything beyond the hateful emotions, and she tried to cry out but couldn't._

_But as quickly as it started it stopped and Faith was back in her cell. She looked around in confusion and then realized that she was still dreaming. It was the silence that tipped her off – it was never quiet in prison, no matter the time. She walked out of her cell cautiously and looked around. There was no one._

_She walked through the empty prison and out to the entranceway. Again, she looked around and saw no one. Shrugging, she did the thing she had been dreaming about ever since she had gotten to prison, and walked out the front doors. _

_A bright light blinded her for a moment and she blinked at the scene before her. All around were teenagers laughing as they left their 'prison' and headed home. Faith turned around and read the words 'Hemery High School' on the building behind her. Frowning at the vaguely familiar words, she walked down the stairs._

_She stopped when she recognized a familiar laugh. In astonishment, she turned to see a laughing Buffy sitting on the steps to her right, sucking on a lollypop. A man walked up to the laughing girl, and suddenly Faith knew why this was all familiar._

_Because B had told her all about when she was Called. _

_Faith took a step towards the now frowning girl, when she suddenly found herself in a cemetery. The Slayer growled softly at the ever-changing realities, but her attention was soon caught by the familiar voice of her sister Slayer. _

_"Merrick! Don't die, please, I'll do better, I promise!" _

_Buffy was sobbing as she held the dead body of her Watcher. The vampire that killed him looked at her in disgust and then left, leaving only his laughter behind. Faith walked up and knelt by the crying girl, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She was surprised when the dream-Buffy responded by looking at the brunette._

_"It's my fault. I didn't practice enough – I treated Slaying like it was game. I just wanted to have fun," Buffy said sadly. With a start, Faith understood her sister Slayer a lot more than she had before. She had never thought about Buffy's L.A. Watcher, assuming that he had remained behind when she moved. This is why Buffy was always so uptight about doing her duty – she felt she had failed once already, and it had cost her her Watcher. _

_Before Faith could reply, the figures before her turned to dust. Glancing around, she was not surprised to now find herself in a cave. A slightly noise behind her made her turn and she whistled as she saw Buffy enter the room._

_Goddamn, B looks hot in that dress._

_She watched Buffy try and stake the ugliest vampire Faith had ever seen, and with a sinking feeling in her stomach she recognized this memory as well. This was the first time that Buffy died._

_The Master dropped Buffy disdainfully into the water and walked away. His footsteps echoed in the cavern, along with other voices._

_"Giles, I'm only sixteen…I don't want to die."_

_Now the memories began flow faster and Faith clutched her head as she became overwhelmed by the various visions and sounds._

_"Angel?"_

_Buffy holding a dying Jamaican girl._

_"Giles, don't leave me alone!"_

_A swordfight. A vortex. A death. _

_"No friends, no family, no hope. What's left." "Me."_

_Faith breathing on a window, and drawing a heart with a stake through it as she grinned at her sister Slayer. _

_"Faith, you killed a man!" "You don't understand – I don't care!"_

_Angel walked away and disappearing in the aftermath._

_Riley. Faith. Adam. Joyce. Glory. Spike. Dawn._

_Death._

_Suddenly, the visions stopped and Faith fell to the ground gasping, no longer caring where she was. Wearily, she raised her head and was surprised she wasn't anywhere. There was just light, and peace, and contentment. Faith looked around and then she understood; she had felt B die, and when they brought her back, but she hadn't known this._

_Buffy had gone to heaven._

_"This is where it should have ended."_

_Startled, Faith turned and was surprised to see a sad-looking Buffy sit beside her._

_"They tore you out of heaven," Faith said in a disbelieving tone. Buffy nodded._

_"They thought I had gone to hell; living after knowing peace – THAT was hell. But I had to live, for Dawn. I couldn't leave her alone."_

_Faith stared ahead; trying to see what Buffy was looking at. It was like watching a movie, except there was no screen. A man she assumed was Buffy's father telling her that he never loved her; Angel, or rather Angelus, telling Buffy that she had been a pretty good lay; Faith standing on the ledge of the balcony of her old apartment, falling; Giles boarding a plane and leaving without a second glance; a brief image of Spike…naked._

_Faith wrinkled her brow in disgust at the sight of the vampire naked, and wondered why Buffy had a memory of that._

_"They all left, but only Spike stayed – he was evil and perverted and painful and he was the only who stayed," Buffy said, tonelessly. "He's the only one who thought I was worth it." _

_Faith looked at Buffy with concern and answered, "You still got Dawn, B. She loves you."_

_Wherever they were began to darken and grew cold. A terrible idea began to form in Faith's mind, and she turned to Buffy._

_"Something has happened to little D, hasn't it?"_

_Buffy didn't answer her but said instead, "In a dream like this, you told me how to defeat the Mayor. It's time I returned the favour."_

_The blonde Slayer stood and looked down at the shaken girl. A knife appeared in her hand momentarily, and Faith recognized it as the same blade that Buffy had used to try and kill her. _

_"Next time we meet, we'll be enemies."_

Faith awoke with a gasp and struggled to breath. At the sound of her name, she turned and saw a annoyed guard at the entrance of her cell.

"Spencer! You've got a visitor."

Struggling to get her breathing under control, she followed the guard to the Visitor's Room – not surprised to find Angel and Cordelia waiting. She sat down heavily and reached for the phone.

'Save your breath, I know why you're here. When do I get out?"

"Soon. How did…"

"Did you contact Red or Giles?" Faith interrupted, not ready to recount her dream just yet. Angel shook his head and Cordelia took the phone.

"They know what's happening, and there's a chance that they'll be able to stop it."

Faith just laughed.

"Buffy's not going to stop until the person responsible for whatever has happened to little D is dead."

Cordelia hesitated for a moment and then replied, "We won't be able to get you there in time…which means Buffy will already be on her killing spree when we get there."

Faith shrugged, feigning nonchalance.

"What are a few more dead demons?"

Cordelia shook her head, and Faith could have sworn she saw tears in the Ice Queen's eyes.

"No, Faith. I don't know about after, but the person she's going after is human."

Faith stared in shock and realized what Buffy had meant.

_In a dream like this, you told me how to defeat the Mayor. It's time I returned the favour._

Faith had helped Buffy kill the Mayor – now Buffy is going to help Faith kill her.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Unfortunately, this update rate on this fic won't continue, since I've got to go back to a few other projects first. On a happier note, I'd again like to thank everyone who have reviewed – I would thank everyone personally but I've been told that frowns on that.

Seeing Red – Chapter 3

It was a beautiful day – the kind of one that lousy poets wrote about using flowery prose. A perfect California day, but it went unnoticed by the small blonde making her way across Sunnydale. At first glance, it looked like she didn't have a care in the world. But if you were to look into those eyes you would find death reflected there.

The death of loved ones; the death of enemies; the death of her soul.

And while the passer-bys noticed nothing unusual in the young woman, one person did – or rather, a former demon did. Anya's eyes widened slightly as Buffy Summers entered the Magic Shop; as a former Vengeance Demon, Anya had plenty of experience finding women overcome by hatred and the need for vengeance. In fact, it wasn't that unusual of an occurrence, and it kept Anyaka busy for several millennium.

But looking into the eyes of the Slayer, Anya felt a rare shiver of fear creep down her spine. At that moment, she felt her mortal state keenly. This went beyond anger, or vengeance, or hatred – the Slayer had fallen into a state of such enmity that few _demons_ could achieve. Worse still, the former-demon could feel the waves of power flowing out from the Slayer. The Slayer always tended to radiate power, but that generally 'grey' power had been tainted with a darkness that seemed to continue to feed the Slayer's aura with more and darker power.

"Hey Anya, got a question for ya," Buffy asked cheerfully, though the effect was spoiled by the coldness reflected in her eyes and smile. "Since you were a vengeance demon, you've killed lots of guys in really creative ways, right?"

"Oh yes, I remember this one husband who was cheating on his wife with another man, so she wished for him to be speared up the rectum," Anya said, her fear banished by the nostalgic memories.

"Great! I need some advice on killing Warren."

Anya frowned.

"What kind of name is 'Warren' for a demon; these modern demons have no sense, at all," Anya said distastefully.

"Oh, Warren isn't a demon, he's human. He killed Dawn," Buffy confided matter-of-factly to Anya. Suddenly, Anya remembered the darkness in Buffy's eyes and the frantic phone call from Willow. With a sinking feeling, she realized why Willow had told her to stall Buffy.

"But I thought Slayers couldn't kill humans; remember the whole psychotic Faith incident?" Anya asked slowly, realizing she was treading thin ice.

"When have I ever followed the rules? I didn't kill Angel, Spike," the last name was said in a voice completely devoid of any emotion making Anya wonder, "and you. I mean, you've kills tons of people when you were a demon. When you were a demon, I would have killed you without a second thought. But you became human so I didn't…" Buffy trailed off, lost in thought as she contemplated the subject.

Anya had never been more grateful for the invention of the telephone than at that moment. Grabbing the handle, she only hoped that the ring tone had broken the Slayer's train of thought. The former demon had _not _liked where those thoughts were heading.

"Magic Box."

"Anya, thank the Goddess! Is Buffy there?" a frantic Willow asked.

"Yes, she is, and when the hell are you getting her?" Anya asked in a slightly stressed-out voice.

"We're almost there; do you know another number we can use to reach Giles? We've been trying to him a hold of him, but so far no luck."

"Anya, would you hurry up? I want get to killing Warren quickly – well, start the process quickly, anyways."

Willow stared at Tara in shock as Buffy's voice drifted across the cell phone. Before Anya could respond, the phone clicked and all that could be heard was the dial tone. The two witches looked at each other in horror, and began to run. Five minutes later they were outside the Magic Box – which now sported a 'closed' sign despite being three o'clock in the afternoon.

_Things must have gone really bad if Anya was willing to close and lose the chance to make money_, Willow thought.

Thankful that the door was unlocked, the two witches carefully entered the store. Only to be surprised when they saw Buffy and Anya sitting at the table talking amicably…

…amidst chaos.

Shelves and their contents were toppled over and laid carelessly on the floor. There were several holes in the walls ranging from fist-sized to that of a body. Several chairs were smashed to pieces near various walls. While taking this in, Tara heard a small groan come from the rubble of books. Quickly the girls began tossing books away and were shocked to see a battered Rupert Giles regaining consciousness.

"Oh my God, Giles!" Willow cried.

Wincing, Giles snuck a peak over to where Anya dn Buffy were still chatting away before he carefully began to sit up.

"A little quieter, if you please, Willow. Not only do I have a bloody headache, I'd rather not re-attract Buffy's attention at the moment," Giles said, strangely calm despite the fact he had been beaten to a pulp.

"Buffy did this?" Willow asked, aghast. Without waiting for the obvious answer, Tara asked, "Mr. Giles, w-what are you d-doing here?"

Giles sighed wearily.

"A coven of powerful witches I know in England sense the rise of a great evil from what was once good. I must admit, thought it would be you, Willow, given your past infatuation with dark magic," Giles confessed.

Willow smiled wanly and nodded for Giles to continue.

"I was given the combined power of the coven in order to stop its rise."

"I'm guessing it failed?" Willow more-of stated rather than asked, eyeing Giles' bedevilled state.

"Yes, working on the assumption that you had turned, by absorbing the 'good' magic of the coven you would retain a measure of your humanity, hopefully long enough for one of us to get through to you."

"S-so, this p-plan didn't work b-because Buffy is a Slayer, not a w-witch?" Tara asked, giving the Slayer (who still continued her discussion with Anya) a pensive look.

"Yes, but with the coven's power I should have been able to bind Buffy physically until I found a way to restore her mental and emotional balance, but…" Giles trailed off, a glazed look entering his eyes.

"But…? Giles!" Willowed hissed sharply.

"Pardon?" Giles asked blankly, and despite the seriousness of the situation, Willow barely managed to prevent herself from rolling her eyes. "But?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Oh, right. I'm not entirely certain what happened. The power within Buffy that makes her a Slayer seemed to simply…overpower the magic I was using. I have never heard of a similar instance happening in any of the Watcher Diaries," Giles confessed. "There's a very good chance that Buffy would have killed me if Anya hadn't convinced Buffy that she needed good ideas of how to kill Warren and she could kill me later. What did this Warren do to cause Buffy to snap like this?"

Willow and Tara looked at each for a moment, before turning sad eyes back to the Watcher.

"He killed Dawn. He must have done it right in front of Buffy," Willow said softly. Giles closed his eyes briefly in sorrow; both girls had become like daughters to him, and the thought he had not only lost one, but the other one as well froze his mental processes for a moment. It was Buffy that broke him out of his reverie.

"Thanks a lot, Anya, you've given me some really good ideas. But Warren is finally trying to get out of town so I've got to get going," Buffy said apologetically to the former demon, who was currently shooting worried looks to where Giles, Willow and Tara still huddled amongst the mess. With the help of Willow and Tara, Giles got up stiffly and warily approached the blonde Slayer, intercepting her as she made for the door.

"Buffy, you don't want to do this…" Giles began but was quickly interrupted.

"Why, Giles, because Slayer's shouldn't kill humans because they have souls? The one's who have hurt me most have had souls," Buffy said, her face went blank for a moment and the Watcher almost missed the whispered, "almost everyone."

"As your Watcher…" Giles tried again, but again was interrupted by Buffy as she began to laugh.

"You aren't my Watcher – you left. Besides, I've decided to take the advice of someone better qualified than you: the First Slayer," she added at Giles' uncomprehending look. Tara looked somewhat confused, as did Anya, but twin looks of horror filtered across Giles and Willow's face. They remembered the night after the defeat of Adam when the First Slayer attempted to kill them. The First Slayer hadn't seemed to have a speck of humanity within her; willing to kill anyone or anything that stepped in the way of her completing her goal of ridding the world of evil. Maybe it was this final shock, or Buffy's calm yet dangerous eyes, but whatever the reason the group watched silently as Buffy left the store, her finally words hanging in the air.

"Got to go kill Warren now, see ya later."

TBC

A/N: A couple more chapters before Faith and gang arrive, so hang in there


End file.
